


Hardware

by roboticonography



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 00:46:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5949814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roboticonography/pseuds/roboticonography
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why is Peggy breaking into Tony's workshop in the middle of the night?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hardware

**Author's Note:**

> This could be a deleted scene from FWNL, or it could just be an AU where Steve and Peggy are staying at the tower for whatever reason. However you like!

" _Ms. Potts, I'm terribly sorry to disturb you..._ "  
  
 _He always is_ , thought Pepper groggily, feeling around on the floor beside the bed with her foot. "Yes, JARVIS?"  
  
" _Ms. Carter is attempting to bypass my security restrictions in order to access the twenty-first floor._ "

"Tony's workshop?" Pepper stood, stepping into her slippers one at a time.  
  
" _Yes. She did ask me not to wake you, but I believed the suspicious nature of her actions warranted your -_ "  
  
"Thanks," she interjected. She tapped the intercom panel in the nightstand. "Peggy?"  
  
" _Ms. Carter has disabled the intercom in her location._ "  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
" _Level twenty-one, the southeast stairwell_."  
  
Whatever reasons her friend had for breaking into the workshop, Pepper was certain they were valid ones. But she couldn't just let it happen, obviously. And Tony was away, making this a thousand percent Pepper's problem.  
  
With a sigh, Pepper pulled on her robe and headed for the stairs.  
  
*  
  
Pepper found Peggy, barefoot in shorts and a hooded sweatshirt, staring defeatedly into an open mechanical panel.   
  
Peggy didn't look especially surprised to see her. "JARVIS, you rotten fink," she declared.  
  
Pepper stifled a yawn. "What's going on?"  
  
"I need a pair of bolt cutters. I've looked in the garage, but JARVIS tells me all the tools are in the workshop. I don't make a habit of skulking around in the night, but time is of the essence."  
  
"And you turned off the intercom?"  
  
"I was rather hoping not to wake anyone," said Peggy glibly.  
  
Politeness compelled Pepper to protest that she'd already been up. "And you can always ask if there's something you need."

"You're too kind," said Peggy. "Thank you so much. Bolt cutters, then?"  
  
Pepper keyed in her code and the reinforced door slid open. The individual rooms illuminated as they passed through.  
  
"They should be over here," said Pepper. "I'm guessing the reason you need them is classified?"  
  
"Hm, rather." Her sweatshirt, Pepper noted, was a few sizes too large, and had "Baseball Hall of Fame" stencilled across the chest.  
  
"Is Steve okay?"  
  
It was a shot in the dark, but Peggy gave her a shrewd look. "What did JARVIS tell you?"  
  
"Nothing."

Peggy examined her face, and was apparently satisfied with whatever proof of honesty she found written upon it.  
  
Pepper selected a small set of cutters from the wall of tools. "Will these work?"

Peggy hummed critically. "Something with a bit more force behind it might be helpful." Her hands roamed over the wall, pulling down items seemingly at random.

"Are you sure everything's okay?"  
  
"Oh, yes." She was examining a large hacksaw. "Bit of a box-up with some new equipment, but it's all under control."

"Peg?" Steve's voice came over the intercom. "Find anything yet? I'm starting to lose the feeling in my - "

"Hello, darling!" Peggy called out, slightly manic. "I'm just here with Pepper. We've been having a bit of a chin-wag. I'll be there very shortly. Sorry to have kept you waiting!"

"Roger that," said Steve, his tone suddenly, unaccountably professional.

Peggy was loading the hacksaw, a larger pair of bolt cutters, and a few more equally dangerous items into a nearby toolbox. "These should do the trick," she told Pepper, breezily, picking up the box by the handle. "Thank you again. Have a lovely evening."

" _Ms. Carter, given that your current course of action is likely to cause bodily harm to yourself or Captain Rogers, shall I contact the fire department?_ "

"No, you shall _not_ ," Peggy snapped. The tips of her ears were crimson.

Pepper's sleep-deprived brain suddenly made the connection between the hand tools and Steve's numb extremities. 

"Handcuffs!" she blurted out - before realizing the most likely circumstances for the use of handcuffs by two consenting adults at three in the morning.

Peggy sighed. "That would have been simpler. I can pick a lock."

"Then what...?"

"SHIELD issues its field agents several sets of plyometric restraints. They're designed to be impossible to break - the tension increases the more one resists." She managed a credibly blank expression as she added, "We thought we'd have a go at seeing how easily Steve could get out of them."

"Ah." It was all Pepper could say without laughing.

"Not very easily, as it turns out. But he did manage to break the release mechanism in the process."

Pepper was tempted to make a play on the word 'release,' but she didn't think her friend would appreciate it. "That's... really unfortunate."

"Yes. I'd be obliged if you didn't mention this to Steve. Or to anyone else. Particularly Tony."

"No, of course."

"Thank you."

With as much dignity as she could muster, Peggy carried her toolbox to the elevator, Pepper walking alongside.

"You know," said Pepper carefully, "if you wind up doing any more experiments, you might find scarves or neckties a little more convenient. And easier to cut someone out of."

Peggy said nothing, but raised a single, impeccably-manicured eyebrow. Pepper wondered if maybe she'd assumed too much, given too much away.

"Just a suggestion." She pressed the button for the elevator and tried not to spontaneously combust.

But Peggy was nodding thoughtfully. "I'll keep it in mind."


End file.
